Contents

Origins

The term originated from the magician's gimmick of "stacking the
deck", which involves presenting a deck of cards that appears to have been
randomly shuffled but which is, in fact, arranged in a preconceived
order. The magician knows the order and so is able to control the
outcome of the trick; the audience is unaware of the gimmick. In
poker a deck can be 'stacked' so certain hands are dealt to certain
players.

The phenomenon is subject-matter neutral and has wide
application. Whenever a broad spectrum of facts exist, appearances
can be rigged by highlighting some information and ignoring other
information. Card stacking can be a tool of advocacy groups or
those with a specific agenda. For example, a crime story focusing
on a particular ethnic group, without providing proper comparative
data, could be considered card stacking.

Card stacking especially becomes a problem in more objective
writing such as news stories and scholarly works.[1]

Examples

Assume a newspaper editor had a strong personal opinion on a
topical political issue. Were this issue debated among legislators,
the editor might publish articles and editorials that ignored the
side of the issue the editor does not favor, and report only on
stories associated with the favored side of the issue. This sort of
card stacking could influence public opinion on the issue.